PoxNora: Battlefield of the Immortals is a multiplayer online game that combines a digital collectible card game with a turn-based strategy game in a fantasy setting. PoxNora was originally launched via Java Web Start through a browser and can be played on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The game is free to play with "Sample Battlegroups", and players can purchase additional game pieces, called "runes", and build their own strategies, the game currently includes more than 1600 runes.[1] The game was originally designed and developed by Octopi Media Design Lab, which as of January 16, 2009 became owned by and operated by Sony Online Entertainment,[2] this division of SOE was formerly referred to as SOETucson (because Octopi's headquarters was located in Tucson, Arizona). On April 1, 2011, SOE closed down the Tucson studio along with its Seattle and Denver studios, laying off over 200 employees in the process,[3] some members of the PoxNora team were moved to the San Diego HQ to continue development.

Contents

Players build decks, called "Battle-groups", on PoxNora's website. A Battlegroup consists of thirty runes in any combination of spells, relics, equipment and champions, the game is launched via Java Web Start and players enter one of four game lobbies where they can chat or enter games. A fifth game lobby is reserved solely for trading discussion. Games consist of two players, though matches against AI "bots" are possible now with the release of single-player campaigns, first introduced in the "Path to Conquest" Expansion.

Each player's Battlegroup is shuffled (like a deck of cards) and (in standard settings) players reveal two runes per turn (except the first turn, when four are revealed and the second player's first turn, in which five runes are revealed), the game is played on one of 8 different square, "tiled" maps with various obstacles, fonts, and a Shrine representing each player. The first to destroy their opponent's Shrine wins.

Players accumulate Nora (magical energy) each turn and can use it to cast spells, deploy champions, place relics, or use equipment. When a champion rune is played, it appears on the game map and can be moved around, just like any other tactical roleplaying game. Champion movement is limited by their Action Points (AP), which they regenerate at the start of the player's turn. Champions gain Champion Points (CP) as they participate in battles. Players can spend CP to improve or add to their champion's abilities. Tokens can be used to increase the CP of a champion by 25, 50, 100, or 200, depending on which token is used. Tokens are obtained through purchasing traditional booster packs or separate token packs. Tokens can be traded with other players for alternative tokens or runes.

The game can be played free. Originally, to be able to upgrade runes, or to trade for other runes, it was necessary to purchase runes. A player reward system with "gold" that can be earned in-game now allows access to all aspects of the game with no cash transactions, though some runes are unavailable for gold and must be traded for, every booster pack has a set number of rarity slots. The premium subscription gives access to Premium Campaigns, store discounts, the possibility of being allowed the privilege of beta testing upcoming expansion runes, the ability to convert runes from "crafting recipes", and an added option to obtain a few "Limited Edition" runes that would otherwise not appear with the individually purchased packs.

Players trade runes to obtain better runes or to make a better deck. There are several "rune shops" in the Trader forum that can give players a good idea of what their runes are worth.

Two versus two was recently added to PoxNora; in this mode each person uses a whole 30 rune Battlegroup, uses their own nora, and generates the same nora as their teammate (ability and spell based nora gains are not added to both players banks, only the owner.) In casual play players battlegroups must be either Full-Faction (30 runes of the same faction) or Split-Faction.

Likewise, Theme Decks were also implemented recently. Players can purchase a pre-made deck from each faction and choose to only battle opponents using Theme Decks.

PoxNora's world is divided among eight factions. Each rune belongs to a particular faction.[4] Players receive bonuses if their Battlegroups have at least 15 runes of a given faction and a greater bonus if all 30 runes are from the same faction. An additional Shrine Bonus is activated by having 15 runes of a faction. Factions can be split into 15 runes from two factions called "split factions", creating a multitude of options within the game.

PoxNora expansions are released in regular intervals, usually a few months, with a Midterm Legendary (limited time availability) in between, the expansions usually contain at least 5 Runes (cards) of each faction, often either expanding a theme within the faction or creating a new theme. Each faction receive champions, relics, spells and equipment runes. Runes are generally tweaked during the first week or so of each expansion release due to balance issues but such hotfixes and patches occur frequently as the game develops.

Previously, PoxNora operated as a potential free to play online game through the use of a Fragment system, with this system, a player could obtain Fragments from Campaigns (single player mode) with the rarity of the Fragment depending upon the difficulty of the Campaign as well as the selection of the Campaign. These Fragments could be used to craft runes, this system has been replaced with a broader Gold system that accumulates in both single and multiplayer play.

The PoxNora Marketplace supported premium game purchases through Station Cash (used in all games published by Sony Online Entertainment); in the marketplace users can access packs, theme decks, avatars, campaigns and more.[5] Since the change in ownership of the game, this system has been supplanted by the use of an in-house currency system.

1.
Daybreak Game Company
–
Daybreak Game Company, LLC is an American video game developer and video game publisher. It is a division of Columbus Nova, in 2008, Daybreak Game Company’s game EverQuest was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing the art form of massively multiplayer online role-playing games. On February 2,2015, Sony sold Sony Online Entertainment to Columbus Nova, Sony Online Entertainment began with Sony Interactive Studios America, an internal game development studio of Sony, formed by 1995. In 1996, John Smedley was put in charge of SISAs development of an online role-playing video game, the game would evolve into the MMORPG EverQuest. Smedley hired programmers Brad McQuaid and Steve Clover, who had come to Smedleys attention through their work on the single-player RPG Warwizard, in April 1998, Sony Online Entertainment was formed by merging parts of Sony Online Ventures with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Within a matter of months after this change, Sony Interactive Studios America was renamed 989 Studios, towards the end of 1998,989 Studios shifted its strategy to making only PlayStation console games. The companys computer game and online development branch spun off, initially named RedEye Interactive, Verant Interactive launched EverQuest on March 16,1999, through Sony with modest expectations. Sales continued rising at a steady rate until mid-2001 when growth slowed, as of 2004, Sony reported subscription numbers close to 450,000. In March 2000, Verant released EverQuest, The Ruins of Kunark, in April 2000, Verant hired former Ultima Online developers Raph Koster and Rich Vogel. They formed an office in Austin, Texas, to develop Star Wars Galaxies for LucasArts, SOE acquired Verant in June 2000, and eventually promoted Brad McQuaid to be its Chief Creative Officer. In October 2001, McQuaid resigned and then founded Sigil Games Online, developed by Sony Online Entertainment, LucasArts released Star Wars Galaxies in 2003, which saw rapid growth, as expected. Bruce Woodcock estimates that Star Wars Galaxies reached nearly 300,000 subscribers within the year, LucasArts has released three expansions for Star Wars Galaxies, Jump to Lightspeed in October 2004, Rage of the Wookiees in May 2005, and Trials Of Obi-Wan in November 2005. In 2003, the company also explored relatively untouched MMOG territory with the Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter PlanetSide, PlanetSide enjoyed a reasonably successful launch, however it never attracted wide popularity. SOE has released two expansions for PlanetSide, a retail product titled Core Combat, and Aftershock, a free expansion, EverQuest Online Adventures was not as successful, but it spawned an expansion, EverQuest Online Adventures Frontiers. The game was shut down on March 29,2012, after nine years of operation, EverQuest II was released on November 9,2004. The sequel was set hundreds of years after the original, similar in strategy to EverQuest, SOE has released several adventure packs and expansion packs for EverQuest II, starting with The Bloodline Chronicles in March 2005. In January 2005, Sony Online Entertainment announced the creation of Station Publishing, in November 2005, SOE added the New Game Enhancements to Star Wars Galaxies, changing many of the games core mechanics. This upset players and critics alike, with the level of concurrent players reduced to around 10,000, SOE has produced numerous EverQuest expansions and spin-off video games, including Champions of Norrath and Lords of EverQuest

2.
Computing platform
–
Computing platform means in general sense, where any piece of software is executed. It may be the hardware or the system, even a web browser or other application. The term computing platform can refer to different abstraction levels, including a hardware architecture, an operating system. In total it can be said to be the stage on which programs can run. For example, an OS may be a platform that abstracts the underlying differences in hardware, platforms may also include, Hardware alone, in the case of small embedded systems. Embedded systems can access hardware directly, without an OS, this is referred to as running on bare metal, a browser in the case of web-based software. The browser itself runs on a platform, but this is not relevant to software running within the browser. An application, such as a spreadsheet or word processor, which hosts software written in a scripting language. This can be extended to writing fully-fledged applications with the Microsoft Office suite as a platform, software frameworks that provide ready-made functionality. Cloud computing and Platform as a Service, the social networking sites Twitter and facebook are also considered development platforms. A virtual machine such as the Java virtual machine, applications are compiled into a format similar to machine code, known as bytecode, which is then executed by the VM. A virtualized version of a system, including virtualized hardware, OS, software. These allow, for instance, a typical Windows program to run on what is physically a Mac, some architectures have multiple layers, with each layer acting as a platform to the one above it. In general, a component only has to be adapted to the layer immediately beneath it, however, the JVM, the layer beneath the application, does have to be built separately for each OS

3.
Java (Sun)
–
Java is used in a wide variety of computing platforms from embedded devices and mobile phones to enterprise servers and supercomputers. While they are less common than standalone Java applications, Java applets run in secure, sandboxed environments to provide many features of native applications, in addition, several languages have been designed to run natively on the JVM, including Scala, Clojure and Apache Groovy. Java syntax borrows heavily from C and C++, but object-oriented features are modeled after Smalltalk, Java eschews certain low-level constructs such as pointers and has a very simple memory model where every object is allocated on the heap and all variables of object types are references. Memory management is handled through integrated automatic garbage collection performed by the JVM, on November 13,2006, Sun Microsystems made the bulk of its implementation of Java available under the GNU General Public License. The latest version is Java 8, the only supported version as of 2016, Oracle has announced that using older versions of their JVM implementation presents serious risks due to unresolved security issues. The Java platform is a suite of programs that facilitate developing and running programs written in the Java programming language. A Java platform will include an engine, a compiler. Java ME, Specifies several different sets of libraries for devices with limited storage, display and it is often used to develop applications for mobile devices, PDAs, TV set-top boxes, and printers. Java SE, For general-purpose use on desktop PCs, servers, Java EE, Java SE plus various APIs which are useful for multi-tier client–server enterprise applications. The Java platform consists of programs, each of which provides a portion of its overall capabilities. For example, the Java compiler, which converts Java source code into Java bytecode, is provided as part of the Java Development Kit, the Java Runtime Environment, complementing the JVM with a just-in-time compiler, converts intermediate bytecode into native machine code on the fly. The Java platform also includes a set of libraries. The heart of the Java platform is the concept of a machine that executes Java bytecode programs. This bytecode is the same no matter what hardware or operating system the program is running under, there is a JIT compiler within the Java Virtual Machine, or JVM. The JIT compiler translates the Java bytecode into native processor instructions at run-time, the use of bytecode as an intermediate language permits Java programs to run on any platform that has a virtual machine available. Since JRE version 1.2, Suns JVM implementation has included a just-in-time compiler instead of an interpreter, although Java programs are cross-platform or platform independent, the code of the Java Virtual Machines that execute these programs is not. Every supported operating platform has its own JVM, in most modern operating systems, a large body of reusable code is provided to simplify the programmers job. This code is provided as a set of dynamically loadable libraries that applications can call at runtime

4.
PlayStation Vita
–
The PlayStation Vita is a handheld game console developed and released by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It is the successor to the PlayStation Portable as part of the PlayStation brand of gaming devices and it was released in Japan on December 17,2011, with releases in North America, Europe, and other worldwide regions starting on February 22,2012. It primarily competes with the Nintendo 3DS as part of the generation of video game consoles. Internally, the Vita features a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor, the systems design was created to meld the experience of big budget, dedicated video game platforms with the then up-and-coming trend of mobile gaming through smart phones and tablets. However, in the year after the successful launch, sales of the hardware and its bigger budget games stalled. A concentrated effort to attract smaller, indie developers in the West, combined with support from mid-level Japanese companies. While Sony has not released sales figures, market analyst EEDAR estimates its sales to be around 10 million sold as of the end of 2015. In 2004, it released the PlayStation Portable to compete with the Nintendo DS as part of the generation of video game consoles. After a slow start in the market, it was invigorated in Japan with multiple releases in the Monster Hunter series. With the series being less popular in regions, it failed to revive the platform in the same way. The PSP ended up being a result for the company. Despite this, it was still managed to sell a little over half of what its actual market competitor, the DS, had sold. Through mid-2010, websites continued to run stories about accounts of the existence of a PSP2, reports arose during the Tokyo Game Show that the device was unveiled internally during a private meeting during mid-September held at Sony Computer Entertainments headquarters in Aoyama, Tokyo. A report later confirmed by Mortal Kombat Executive Producer Shaun Himmerick, by November, Senior Vice President of Electronic Arts, Patrick Soderlund, confirmed that he had seen the PlayStation Portable successor existed, but could not confirm details. Throughout 2010, Sony would not confirm reports of a PSP successor. The device was announced by Sony on January 27,2011. Its power was described by Sony engineers as about halfway between the PSP and PS3. Sony also revealed that the device would be using a mix of retail, further details were announced at Game Developers Conference 2011, including that Sony would be dropping the PSPs UMD disc format in favor of small game cartridges of 2GB or 4GB size variants

5.
PlayStation 4
–
The PlayStation 4 is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It competes with Nintendos Wii U and Microsofts Xbox One, as part of the generation of video game consoles.84 teraflops. The consoles controller was redesigned and improved over the PlayStation 3, with improved buttons and analog sticks. Heightened demand also helped Sony top global console sales, by the end of 2016, more than 53 million consoles have been sold worldwide, with more than 57 million shipped. All models, including the original sold in 2013, support HDR10 high-dynamic-range color, according to lead architect Mark Cerny, development of Sonys fourth video game console began as early as 2008. Less than two earlier, the PlayStation 3 had launched after months of delays due to issues with production. The delay placed Sony almost a year behind Microsofts Xbox 360, PlayStation Europe CEO Jim Ryan said Sony wanted to avoid repeating the same mistake with PS3s successor. In designing the system, Sony worked with software developer Bungie, in 2012, Sony began shipping development kits to game developers, consisting of a modified PC running the AMD Accelerated Processing Unit chipset. These development kits were known as Orbis, in early 2013, Sony announced that an event known as PlayStation Meeting 2013 would be held in New York City, U. S. on February 20,2013, to cover the future of PlayStation. Sony officially announced the PlayStation 4 at the event and it revealed details about the consoles hardware and discussed some of the new features it will introduce. Sony also showed off real-time footage of games in development, as well as some technical demonstrations, the design of the console was unveiled in June 2013 at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and the initial recommended retail prices of $399, €399, and £349 given. The console was released on November 15,2013 in the United States and Canada, by the end of 2013, the PS4 was launched in more European, Asian and South American countries The PS4 released in Japan at ¥39,980 on February 22,2014. Sony finalized a deal with the Chinese government in May 2014 to sell its products in mainland China, and the PS4 will be the first product to be released. Kazuo Hirai, chief officer of Sony, said in May, The Chinese market. I think that we will be able to replicate the kind of success we have had with PS4 in other parts of the world in China. In September 2015, Sony reduced the price of the PS4 in Japan to ¥34,980, with similar price drops in other Southeast Asian markets. The first official sub £300 PS4 bundle was the £299.99 Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection 500GB, released in the UK on October 9,2015, a 1TB £329.99 version was offered at the same time. On October 9,2015, the first official cut of the PS4 in North America was announced

6.
North America
–
North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands

7.
Turn-based strategy
–
A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing. This is distinguished from real time strategy where all players play simultaneously, many board games are turn based. For example, chess is one of the oldest and most competitive games of its kind, but many other games such as Reversi, checkers, Hare games and Go are also turn based. Tactical role-playing games are a part of this genre, examples include Fire Emblem, The Battle for Wesnoth, Poxnora, Silent Storm, Steel Panthers, World at War. Kings Bounty, Great Big War Game, Nintendo Wars, UniWar, XCOM2, after a period of converting board and historic TBS games to computer games, companies began basing computer turn-based strategy games on completely original properties or concepts. The presence of a computer to calculate and arbitrate allows game complexity which is not feasible in a board game. Some well known turn-based strategy games are Sid Meiers Civilization series, Heroes of Might and Magic series, Panzer General series, a further market trend is the rise of Indie TBS games. These games often extend or refine already existing TBS strategy games, examples include Freeciv or Golden Age of Civilizations. Since turn-based strategy games do not typically require vast amounts of art or modeling, directories like Freecode provide large lists of open-source, turn-based strategy projects. Because they do not require users to install files and are often free, all that they require is any device with a web browser and Internet connection. Many will work just as well on a smartphone as they do on a desktop computer, chronology of turn-based strategy video games Time-keeping systems in games

8.
Collectible card game
–
A collectible card game, also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a kind of card game that first emerged in 1993 and consists of specially designed sets of playing cards. Successful CCGs typically have upwards of thousands of cards, with the first developed. Typically, a CCG is initially played using a deck, or intro deck. This deck may be expanded or modified with cards from booster packs, One of these cards is a rare or unique card that is much harder to obtain than the remaining cards and often has a higher value than the rest. These values can change over time as distribution changes, cards banned in playing formats. Eventually, with cards, players may create new decks from scratch. Despite the dominance of Magic, The Gathering in the CCG market, Pokémon, and Legend of the Five Rings. Other notable CCGs have come and gone, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Vampire, The Eternal Struggle, Middle-earth, World of Warcraft, Dragon Ball Z, many other CCGs were produced, but had little or no commercial success. More recently, digital collectible card games have gained popularity, spurred by the success of Hearthstone, while players typically start by purchasing a complete preset starter deck so they can play from the onset, additional cards generally come in the form of randomized booster packs. Cards distribution in such packs are set by a rarity system, due to this nature of publishing, CCGs often have expansions that add more potential cards to the games library, creating new card combinations and often shifting the metagame with the CCG community. The exact definition of what makes a CCG is vague as many games are marketed under the collectible card game moniker. The rudimentary definition requires the game to resemble trading cards in shape and function, be mass-produced for trading or collectibility, the definition of CCGs is further refined as being a card game in which the player uses his own deck with cards primarily sold in random assortments. Acquiring these cards may be done by trading with other players or buying card packs, if every card in the game can be obtained by making a small number of purchases, or if the manufacturer does not market it as a CCG, then it is not a CCG. Terms such as collectible and trading are used interchangeably because of copyrights, CCGs can further be designated as live or dead games. Dead games are those CCGs which are no longer supported by their manufacturers and have ceased releasing expansions, live games are those CCGs which continue to be supported by their manufacturers. Usually this means that new expansions are being created for the game, lCGs are card games that share many of the same characteristics as CCGs, but without the randomized booster packs characteristic of trading cards and CCGs. Other similar card games have been marketed or referred to as CCGs, Collectible Common-Deck Card Games are those games where players do not have their own personal deck, and consequently, no customization of decks occur and no trading or metagame is developed. Non-Collectible Customizable Card Games are those games where each player has their own deck, many of these games are sold as complete sets

9.
Fantasy
–
Fantasy is a fiction genre set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Most fantasy uses magic or other elements as a main plot element, theme. Magic and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds, in popular culture, the fantasy genre is predominantly of the medievalist form. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy works by many writers, artists, filmmakers. Fantasy is studied in a number of disciplines including English and other studies, cultural studies, comparative literature, history. The identifying trait of fantasy is the reliance on imagination to create narrative elements that do not have to rely on history or nature to be coherent. This differs from realistic fiction in that whereas realistic fiction has to attend to the history and natural laws of reality, an author applies his or her imagination to come up with characters, plots, and settings that are impossible in reality. Fantasy has often compared with science fiction and horror because they are the major categories of speculative fiction. Fantasy is distinguished from science fiction by the plausibility of the narrative elements, a science fiction narrative is unlikely, though seeming possible through logical scientific and/or technological extrapolation, whereas fantasy narratives do not need to be scientifically possible. The imagined elements of fantasy do not need an explanation to be narratively functional. Authors have to rely on the suspension of disbelief, an acceptance of the unbelievable or impossible for the sake of enjoyment. Despite both genres heavy reliance on the supernatural, fantasy and horror are distinguishable, horror primarily evokes fear through the protagonists weaknesses or inability to deal with the antagonists. Beginning perhaps with the earliest written documents, mythic and other elements that would come to define fantasy. MacDonald was an influence on both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, lord Dunsany established the genres popularity in both the novel and the short story form. Many popular mainstream authors also began to write fantasy at this time, including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Indeed, juvenile fantasy was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, nathaniel Hawthorne wrote fantasy in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, intended for children, though works for adults only verged on fantasy. Political and social trends can affect a societys reception towards fantasy, in the early 20th century, the New Culture Movements enthusiasm for Westernization and science in China compelled them to condemn the fantastical shenmo genre of traditional Chinese literature

10.
Java Web Start
–
In computing, Java Web Start is a framework developed by Sun Microsystems that allows users to start application software for the Java Platform directly from the Internet using a web browser. Some key benefits of this technology include seamless version updating for globally distributed applications, unlike Java applets, Web Start applications do not run inside the browser. By default they run in the sandbox as applets, with several minor extensions like allowing to load. Only signed applications can be configured to have additional permissions, Web Start has an advantage over applets in that it overcomes many compatibility problems with browsers Java plugins and different JVM versions. Web Start programs are no longer a part of the web page. Web Start can also launch unmodified applets that are packaged inside. jar files and this file can also pass the applet parameters. Such applets also run in a separate frame, applet launcher may not support some specific cases like loading class as resource. Like applets, Java Web Start is cross-platform, the developer prepares a special XML file with JNLP extension. This file describes the requirements, code location, parameters. The browser downloads this file as any other and opens it with Web Start tool, Web Start tool downloads all necessary resources and launches the application. Java Web Start provides a series of classes in the javax. jnlp package which provide services to the application. Sun designed most of these services with the aim of allowing carefully controlled access to resources while restricting the application to authorized operations, Sun introduced version 1.0 of Web Start in March 2001, while 64-bit Windows support was added only in Java 6. Since J2SE1.4 Web Start comes as a part of Java Runtime Environment called javaws. Programmers often speak of the Java Network Launching Protocol interchangeably with the term Web Start, the JNLP protocol, defined with an XML schema, specifies how to launch Java Web Start applications. JNLP consists of a set of defining how exactly to implement the launching mechanism. JNLP files include information such as the location of the jar package file, a properly configured browser passes JNLP files to a Java Runtime Environment which in turn downloads the application onto the users machine and starts executing it. The development of JNLP took place under the Java Community Process as JSR56 and it includes the original 1.0 release, the subsequent 1.5 maintenance release, and as of 2006, the pending 6.0 maintenance release. The user does not have to remain connected to the Internet to execute the downloaded programs, updates of the software download from the Web and become available when the user has a connection to the Internet, thus easing the burden of deployment

11.
Microsoft Windows
–
Microsoft Windows is a metafamily of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Microsoft. It consists of families of operating systems, each of which cater to a certain sector of the computing industry with the OS typically associated with IBM PC compatible architecture. Active Windows families include Windows NT, Windows Embedded and Windows Phone, defunct Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows 10 Mobile is an active product, unrelated to the defunct family Windows Mobile. Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20,1985, Microsoft Windows came to dominate the worlds personal computer market with over 90% market share, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced in 1984. Apple came to see Windows as an encroachment on their innovation in GUI development as implemented on products such as the Lisa. On PCs, Windows is still the most popular operating system, however, in 2014, Microsoft admitted losing the majority of the overall operating system market to Android, because of the massive growth in sales of Android smartphones. In 2014, the number of Windows devices sold was less than 25% that of Android devices sold and this comparison however may not be fully relevant, as the two operating systems traditionally target different platforms. As of September 2016, the most recent version of Windows for PCs, tablets, smartphones, the most recent versions for server computers is Windows Server 2016. A specialized version of Windows runs on the Xbox One game console, Microsoft, the developer of Windows, has registered several trademarks each of which denote a family of Windows operating systems that target a specific sector of the computing industry. It now consists of three operating system subfamilies that are released almost at the time and share the same kernel. Windows, The operating system for personal computers, tablets. The latest version is Windows 10, the main competitor of this family is macOS by Apple Inc. for personal computers and Android for mobile devices. Windows Server, The operating system for server computers, the latest version is Windows Server 2016. Unlike its clients sibling, it has adopted a strong naming scheme, the main competitor of this family is Linux. Windows PE, A lightweight version of its Windows sibling meant to operate as an operating system, used for installing Windows on bare-metal computers. The latest version is Windows PE10.0.10586.0, Windows Embedded, Initially, Microsoft developed Windows CE as a general-purpose operating system for every device that was too resource-limited to be called a full-fledged computer. The following Windows families are no longer being developed, Windows 9x, Microsoft now caters to the consumers market with Windows NT. Windows Mobile, The predecessor to Windows Phone, it was a mobile operating system

12.
MacOS
–
Within the market of desktop, laptop and home computers, and by web usage, it is the second most widely used desktop OS after Microsoft Windows. Launched in 2001 as Mac OS X, the series is the latest in the family of Macintosh operating systems, Mac OS X succeeded classic Mac OS, which was introduced in 1984, and the final release of which was Mac OS9 in 1999. An initial, early version of the system, Mac OS X Server 1.0, was released in 1999, the first desktop version, Mac OS X10.0, followed in March 2001. In 2012, Apple rebranded Mac OS X to OS X. Releases were code named after big cats from the release up until OS X10.8 Mountain Lion. Beginning in 2013 with OS X10.9 Mavericks, releases have been named after landmarks in California, in 2016, Apple rebranded OS X to macOS, adopting the nomenclature that it uses for their other operating systems, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The latest version of macOS is macOS10.12 Sierra, macOS is based on technologies developed at NeXT between 1985 and 1997, when Apple acquired the company. The X in Mac OS X and OS X is pronounced ten, macOS shares its Unix-based core, named Darwin, and many of its frameworks with iOS, tvOS and watchOS. A heavily modified version of Mac OS X10.4 Tiger was used for the first-generation Apple TV, Apple also used to have a separate line of releases of Mac OS X designed for servers. Beginning with Mac OS X10.7 Lion, the functions were made available as a separate package on the Mac App Store. Releases of Mac OS X from 1999 to 2005 can run only on the PowerPC-based Macs from the time period, Mac OS X10.5 Leopard was released as a Universal binary, meaning the installer disc supported both Intel and PowerPC processors. In 2009, Apple released Mac OS X10.6 Snow Leopard, in 2011, Apple released Mac OS X10.7 Lion, which no longer supported 32-bit Intel processors and also did not include Rosetta. All versions of the system released since then run exclusively on 64-bit Intel CPUs, the heritage of what would become macOS had originated at NeXT, a company founded by Steve Jobs following his departure from Apple in 1985. There, the Unix-like NeXTSTEP operating system was developed, and then launched in 1989 and its graphical user interface was built on top of an object-oriented GUI toolkit using the Objective-C programming language. This led Apple to purchase NeXT in 1996, allowing NeXTSTEP, then called OPENSTEP, previous Macintosh operating systems were named using Arabic numerals, e. g. Mac OS8 and Mac OS9. The letter X in Mac OS Xs name refers to the number 10 and it is therefore correctly pronounced ten /ˈtɛn/ in this context. However, a common mispronunciation is X /ˈɛks/, consumer releases of Mac OS X included more backward compatibility. Mac OS applications could be rewritten to run natively via the Carbon API, the consumer version of Mac OS X was launched in 2001 with Mac OS X10.0. Reviews were variable, with praise for its sophisticated, glossy Aqua interface

13.
Linux
–
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open-source software development and distribution. The defining component of Linux is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17,1991 by Linus Torvalds, the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to describe the operating system, which has led to some controversy. Linux was originally developed for computers based on the Intel x86 architecture. Because of the dominance of Android on smartphones, Linux has the largest installed base of all operating systems. Linux is also the operating system on servers and other big iron systems such as mainframe computers. It is used by around 2. 3% of desktop computers, the Chromebook, which runs on Chrome OS, dominates the US K–12 education market and represents nearly 20% of the sub-$300 notebook sales in the US. Linux also runs on embedded systems – devices whose operating system is built into the firmware and is highly tailored to the system. This includes TiVo and similar DVR devices, network routers, facility automation controls, televisions, many smartphones and tablet computers run Android and other Linux derivatives. The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free, the underlying source code may be used, modified and distributed‍—‌commercially or non-commercially‍—‌by anyone under the terms of its respective licenses, such as the GNU General Public License. Typically, Linux is packaged in a known as a Linux distribution for both desktop and server use. Distributions intended to run on servers may omit all graphical environments from the standard install, because Linux is freely redistributable, anyone may create a distribution for any intended use. The Unix operating system was conceived and implemented in 1969 at AT&Ts Bell Laboratories in the United States by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Douglas McIlroy, first released in 1971, Unix was written entirely in assembly language, as was common practice at the time. Later, in a key pioneering approach in 1973, it was rewritten in the C programming language by Dennis Ritchie, the availability of a high-level language implementation of Unix made its porting to different computer platforms easier. Due to an earlier antitrust case forbidding it from entering the computer business, as a result, Unix grew quickly and became widely adopted by academic institutions and businesses. In 1984, AT&T divested itself of Bell Labs, freed of the legal obligation requiring free licensing, the GNU Project, started in 1983 by Richard Stallman, has the goal of creating a complete Unix-compatible software system composed entirely of free software. Later, in 1985, Stallman started the Free Software Foundation, by the early 1990s, many of the programs required in an operating system were completed, although low-level elements such as device drivers, daemons, and the kernel were stalled and incomplete. Linus Torvalds has stated that if the GNU kernel had been available at the time, although not released until 1992 due to legal complications, development of 386BSD, from which NetBSD, OpenBSD and FreeBSD descended, predated that of Linux. Torvalds has also stated that if 386BSD had been available at the time, although the complete source code of MINIX was freely available, the licensing terms prevented it from being free software until the licensing changed in April 2000

14.
Tucson, Arizona
–
Tucson is a city and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, and home to the University of Arizona. The 2010 United States Census put the population at 520,116, the Tucson MSA forms part of the larger Tucson-Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population of 1,010,025 as of the 2010 Census. Tucson is the second-largest populated city in Arizona behind Phoenix, both of which anchor the Arizona Sun Corridor, the city is located 108 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 mi north of the U. S. –Mexico border. Tucson is the 33rd largest city and the 53rd largest metropolitan area in the United States, Major incorporated suburbs of Tucson include Oro Valley and Marana northwest of the city, Sahuarita south of the city, and South Tucson in an enclave south of downtown. Communities in the vicinity of Tucson include Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills, Flowing Wells, Midvale Park, Tanque Verde, Tortolita, towns outside the Tucson metro area include Benson to the southeast, Catalina and Oracle to the north, and Green Valley to the south. The Spanish name of the city, Tucsón, is derived from the Oodham Cuk Ṣon, meaning base of the black, Tucson is sometimes referred to as The Old Pueblo. Tucson was probably first visited by Paleo-Indians, known to have been in southern Arizona about 12,000 years ago, recent archaeological excavations near the Santa Cruz River have located a village site dating from 2100 BC. The floodplain of the Santa Cruz River was extensively farmed during the Early Agricultural Period and these people constructed irrigation canals and grew corn, beans, and other crops while gathering wild plants and hunting. The Early Ceramic period occupation of Tucson saw the first extensive use of vessels for cooking. The groups designated as the Hohokam lived in the area from AD600 to 1450 and are known for their vast irrigation canal systems and their red-on-brown pottery. Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino visited the Santa Cruz River valley in 1692, a separate Convento settlement was founded downstream along the Santa Cruz River, near the base of what is now A mountain. Hugo OConor, the father of the city of Tucson, Arizona authorized the construction of a military fort in that location, Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón. During the Spanish period of the presidio, attacks such as the Second Battle of Tucson were repeatedly mounted by Apaches, eventually the town came to be called Tucson and became a part of Sonora after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Tucson was not included in the Mexican Cession and Cookes road through Tucson became one of the important routes into California during the California Gold Rush, Arizona, south of the Gila River, was obtained via treaty from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase on June 8,1854. Tucson became a part of the United States of America, although the American military did not formally take control until March 1856. In 1857, Tucson became a station on the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line. The Overland Mail Corporation attempted to continue running, however, following the Bascom Affair, devastating Apache attacks on the stations, from August 1861 to mid-1862, Tucson was the western capital of the Confederate Arizona Territory, the eastern capital being Mesilla. In 1862, the California Column drove the Confederate forces out of Arizona, Tucson and all of what is now Arizona were part of New Mexico Territory until 1863, when they became part of the new Arizona Territory

15.
Tactical role-playing game
–
A tactical role-playing game is a genre of video game which incorporates elements of traditional role-playing video games and emphasizes tactical rather than high-level strategic gameplay. In Japan these games are known as Simulation RPGs and this subgenre of role-playing video games principally refers to games which incorporate elements from strategy video games as an alternative to traditional role-playing game systems. Like standard RPGs, the controls a finite party and battles a similar number of enemies. And like other RPGs, death is usually temporary, but this genre incorporates strategic gameplay such as tactical movement on an isometric grid. Unlike other video game genres, tactical RPGs tend not to feature multiplayer play, a distinct difference between tactical RPGs and traditional RPGs is the lack of exploration. For instance, Final Fantasy Tactics does away with the typical third-person exploration to towns and dungeons that are typical in a Final Fantasy game, instead of exploration, there is an emphasis on battle strategy. Players are able to build and train characters to use in battle, utilizing different classes, including warriors and magic users, depending on the game. Battles will have specific winning conditions, such as defeating all enemies or surviving a certain number of turns, in between battles, players can access their characters to equip them, change classes, train them, depending on the game. Tactical RPGs are descendents of traditional games, such as chess, and table-top role-playing and war games, such as Chainmail. The format of a tactical RPG video game is also like a traditional RPG in its appearance, pacing, likewise, early table-top strategy wargames like Chainmail are descended from skirmish wargames, which were primarily concerned with combat. A year later, in 1983, Ultima III, Exodus used a combat system. The game revolves around a king who must recruit soldiers and lead his army against overwhelming forces, while each unit gains experience. It is also considered to be an early prototype real-time strategy game, according to Takahashi, Silver Ghost was a simulation action type of game where you had to direct, oversee and command multiple characters. Unlike later tactical RPGs, however, Silver Ghost was not turn-based and it also featured a point-and-click interface, to control the characters using a cursor. A similar game released by Kure Software Koubo that same year was First Queen, combining the basic concepts from games like Dragon Quest and simple turn-based strategy elements, Nintendo created a hit, which spawned many sequels and imitators. During the 16-bit generation, among the first imitators was Langrisser by NCS/Masaya and it was translated for North American release and retitled Warsong. The Langrisser series differed from Fire Emblem in that it used a general-soldier structure instead of controlling main characters, Langrisser, too, spawned many sequels, none of which were brought to North America. Langrisser set itself apart from other tactical RPGs in its time with larger-scale battles, since Der Langrisser in 1994, the series offered non-linear branching paths and multiple endings

16.
Steam (software)
–
Steam is a digital distribution platform developed by Valve Corporation, which offers digital rights management, multiplayer gaming, video streaming and social networking services. Though initially developed for use on Microsoft Windows operating systems, versions for OS X, mobile apps with connected functionality with the main software were later released for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices in the 2010s. The Steam platform is considered to be the largest digital platform for PC gaming. By the end of 2015, the service had over 125 million registered accounts, the success of the Steam platform has led to the development of a line of Steam Machine micro-console, as well as SteamOS, a Valve developed fork of the Debian operating system. Valve decided to create a platform that would update automatically and implement stronger anti-piracy. Valve approached several companies, including Microsoft, Yahoo. and RealNetworks to build a client with these features, Steams development began in 2002, with working titles for the platform being Grid and Gazelle. It was first revealed to the public on March 22,2002, at the Game Developers Conference, to demonstrate the ease of integrating Steam with a game, Relic Entertainment created a special version of Impossible Creatures. However, the game was not released on Steam until 2015, Valve partnered with several companies, including AT&T, Acer, and GameSpy Industries. The first mod released on the system was Day of Defeat, the Steam client was first made available for public beta testing in January 2003 during the beta period for Counter-Strike 1.6, for which it was mandatory to install and use. At the time, Steams primary function was streamlining the patch process common in computer games. Steam was a component for all other games. 80, 000–300,000 gamers tested the system when it was in its beta period, the system and website choked under the strain of thousands of users simultaneously attempting to play the latest version of Counter-Strike. In 2004, the World Opponent Network was shut down and replaced by Steam, the online features of games which required World Opponent Network ceased to work unless they were converted to Steam. Around that time, Valve began negotiating contracts with publishers and independent developers to release their products, including Rag Doll Kung Fu and Darwinia. Canadian publisher Strategy First announced in December 2005 that it would partner with Valve for digital distribution of current, in 2002, the managing director of Valve, Gabe Newell, said he was offering mod teams a game engine license and distribution over Steam for US$995. Valves Half-Life 2 was the first game to require installation of the Steam client to play and this decision was met with concerns about software ownership, software requirements, and issues with overloaded servers demonstrated previously by the Counter-Strike rollout. During this time users faced multiple issues attempting to play the game, although digital distribution could not yet match retail volume, profit margins for Valve and developers were far larger on Steam. Large developer-publishers, including id Software, Eidos Interactive, and Capcom, by May that year,13 million accounts had been created on the service, and 150 games were for sale on the platform

17.
Magic: The Gathering Online
–
It is played through an Internet service operated by Wizards of the Coast, which went live on 24 June 2002. Users can play the game or trade cards with other users and it is only officially available for the Microsoft Windows operating system. As of February 2007, Magic Online has over 300,000 registered accounts, according to Worth Wollpert in 2007, Magic Online is somewhere between 30% to 50% of the total Magic business. Magic Online is played as an analogue to the physical card game. Digital artwork reproduces the look of the card game. Each game is hosted by the Magic Online servers, which apply a rules engine to enforce proper play, the logic for handling card interactions is provided by Perl scripts. Though the rules set as a whole is largely accurate and works well, Players can set up or join casual games of their choice for free in several rooms within the Constructed Open Play area. Currently the casual game rooms are as follows, Just Starting Out, games in this room are limited to the Standard format to restrict the power of the cards being used. Just For Fun, a designed for players to play fun. This is the most populated room and has no restrictions on what format a player can host a game in, getting Serious, this room is provided as a step up from the Just For Fun room, but it is usually unoccupied. Tournament Practice is the most competitive room in the Constructed Open Play area, in addition to free casual play, official competitive tournaments take place around the clock. Tournament play includes 8-man constructed events, limited sealed deck and drafts, entering events requires an investment of sealed packs and/or event tickets, with winners being rewarded with additional product. Up until Version 3, League play was another method of competitive play and these month-long events were sealed deck tournaments of 256 players that allowed for intermittent play over a period of 4 weeks at the pace the player desired. After 6 years, leagues returned in February,2016, initially they were only available for the sealed limited format. Leagues last two months, and in that window a player can usually play between 5 and 9 matches. Once a player finishes playing their matches, prizes are awarded. Currently, leagues are available in a variety of formats, including Standard, Modern, Legacy, leagues also offer Friendly and Competitive alternatives with different prize structures. Leaping Lizard Software initially approached Wizards of the Coast with an offer to create a version of Magic

18.
Sanctum (game)
–
For the 2011 indie game, see Sanctum. Sanctum is a two-player computer collectible card game, played online against human opponents, players log into a Game Lobby to find other players to challenge to a match. It runs on the Windows operating system and it was developed by Digital Addiction in 1997, and was launched to public participation on July 9,1998. At its peak, the game had over 1200 active participants, registered users reached 82,000 by 1999, and by May,2000 had over 100 thousand registered users. It was one of the first online trading card games, the virtual collectible cards include common, uncommon, and rare, with different powers, in-game functions and artwork. They do not exist as actual physical cards but they are owned and traded in an online account, a registered player is given a certain number of free cards to play, and additional cards can be purchased through the online card store. Sanctum has had a user following, with player clubs and cabals, tournaments and prizes, secondary card markets, fan fiction, trivia contests. Sanctum is currently run by members of its community, the most recent update to the game was released February 17,2014. The goal of each player is to defend his or her sanctum from encroachment by their opponent, if a player manages to get some of their units into the opponents sanctum, the game is over with that player declared the winner. The game is played on a diagonally aligned grid of square tiles, the players home base appears in the bottom rows, taking up five squares in a plus-sign shape, the opponents sanctum similarly was located in the top rows. Five towns are placed on the board, one in one of the two squares, and each pair of the other four are located closer to one sanctum than the other. No two towns are closer than two spaces apart, and each players sanctum was the number of moves to its closest town. The rest of the squares of the grid are randomly assigned one of the basic types, plains, forest, desert, water. Players assemble decks out of their virtual cards, each card has a cost in mana, and has varying effects. Each player is dealt five cards out of their decks, and can cast as many in their turn as their mana allows, at the end of their turn, a players hand is replenished to five cards. Towns and sanctums also periodically produce novices every so many turns and these are trained as Swordsmen or Archers to fight for their player, to attack monsters summoned by the enemy, to capture towns, or ultimately to capture the enemy Sanctum. These units can stack in groups of up to eight, as with many fantasy games, spell-casting in Sanctum is constrained by a limited resource called Mana. Sanctum was built by Digital Addiction starting in 1996, released on July 9,1998, Sanctum was one of the first online collectible card games

19.
Computer Games Magazine
–
Computer Games Magazine was a computer gaming print magazine. Before 2000 it was known as Computer Games Strategy Plus and originally it was founded as Games International in the UK in 1988, a Greek version of Computer Games Magazine is still in print. This publication is currently on its year of circulation and has been offering a covermount of full game. The publication was owned by Hyperpress, a minor publication house but was sold to Motorpress in 2006. Archive of Computer Games Magazine website MMO Games Magazine website Greek Computer Games Magazine website & gaming news portal Computer Games Magazine for Mexico website

Tactical role-playing games (abbreviated as TRPG) are a genre of video game which incorporates elements of traditional …

Tile-based, overhead gameplay of Langrisser II. Buildings, scenery and opposing units can form bottlenecks or "choke points" that players are forced to consider.

Silent Storm presents the player with two sets of equipped weapons, numerous stances, and several different firing modes. Terrain elevation is also completely fluid, with smooth ramps, sloping embankments, flights of stairs and ladders (not pictured).

Isometric graphics of Front Mission. The character's movement range is indicated in blue. Some terrain objects such as trees block movement. The terrain also shows a noticeable variation in height at different places.